Separating arm holding mechanism

A separating arm holding mechanism for use in a sheet feeder by which paper sheets are separated with a claw pressure exerted upon a top face of an uppermost sheet of paper by means of a corner pawl formed at one end of a plate-shaped separating arm, where the separating arm is supported swingably and substantially parallel to a plate-shaped attachment plate, the separating arm holding mechanism comprising:

• a central swing-center support portion, an anterior swing guide portion, and a posterior swing guide portion, wherein
• the central swing-center support portion includes a swing center portion in which a plate axis extending from the attachment plate is inserted into a hole provided at an upper center portion of the separating arm, and a lateral movement arresting portion provided on the plate axis to regulate movement of the separating arm in a direction perpendicular to a thicknesswise direction of the separating arm,
• the anterior swing guide portion includes a first partial sliding contact portion for guiding a swing direction of the separating arm by an opening portion of a slit with expanded recess that is provided at a front portion of the attachment plate forward of the central swing-center support portion, and
• the posterior sliding guide portion includes a second partial sliding contact portion for guiding a swing direction of the separating arm by protrusions in contact with both sides of the separating arm provided on a lower rear side of the central swing-center support portion.